Pages

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Wound adhesion: Cured by physiotherapy

Those of you who have been following my blog will have known that I was experiencing so much pain from my caesarean wound till the point where I couldn't even walk. I did some scans and the gynae said that the wound had adhered to one of my organs during the healing process. Yikes! I did some research and found out that stomach wound adhesions are very common and happens in up to 90% of stomach operations! (That sounds really absurd to me as none of my friends have such pain after a C-section and none of them know of any friends with this problem after a C-section). In most cases, it is painless (ah, that explains it), but for some, as the scar tissues start to impede the movement and function of the organs around it, that's when it causes chronic pain. In some cases, the pain becomes very debilitating, and another surgery has to be done to lyse the adhesion. I didn't like the sound of that one bit, so I got a second opinion to see if there was any other option. The gynae said that this type of operation can easily be done using laparoscopy (keyhole surgery). Sigh. I really didn't wish to have another operation, but what choice did I have? I did more research and it seems that even a laparoscopy may have a 50% chance or resulting in adhesion again! That didn't seem like a good solution to me. Then a friend texted me and told me that her sister's friend who had a caesarian done 20 years ago, had also been experiencing pain intermittently due to wound adhesion. Recently, the pain got so bad that she had to go for an operation to separate part of the intestines from the wound. As a result, the intestines became shorter, which affected her nutrient intake, which led to more problems. She suggested that I had better do something about it soon and not wait till the problem became worse. I was troubled as I couldn't see a viable solution. How was I to run a family of 6 kids when I could hardly even walk? Or to undergo another operation which might not even solve the problem?

"Got to get this for mummy"

The next day, I had to take #3 to the dentist. As usual, I got her to load the skate scooter into the car as it had been my mode of transport for the past few weeks. I have a walking quota, and if I exceed it, my wound area would start to hurt very badly. She commented sagely, "Mum, you can't live like this for the rest of your life". I replied, "Yes, I know, but what can I do about it? Leave it, also cannot. Cut it apart, may get stuck again. How?" The only thing we could do was to pray.We went for her dental appointment and our dentist saw me hobbling along. I related my sob story, and she advised me to see her physiotherapist. "Physio? You got to be kidding. What can he do?" She told me he was really really good and convinced me to see him. So I decided that there was no harm in trying, and I might as well try any other non-invasive ways and eliminate all other options before I go for the laparoscopy. So I went. The physio, David, was so experienced that he could figure out my problem immediately after I related everything to him and after he assessed me by asking me to bend here and there, stretch here and there to ascertain where the problem areas were. In fact, my other problems of pain in my shoulders and in my hips which I have tolerated and lived with for so long were all inter-related to the wound pain. Because I had been compensating and bending over to minimise my wound pain, my whole alignment had been shifted which resulted in tightness and pain in other areas as well.He explained that because of the adhesion, the muscles around the area became so tight that it bundled the nerves and everything, and it was like a traffic jam and that area was the bottle neck. Nothing could flow properly, and the toxins were all trapped there. He prodded the muscles and I could hear a lot of strange noises coming from my stomach. Apparently, all the gas, toxins or 'chi' (whatever you call it) were released and it would help the blood to flow properly again. He loosened all the muscles around my pain site and taught me a couple of exercises which I had to do daily.I still couldn't believe that my seemingly insurmountable problem was cured just like that! I walked gingerly to the car, half expecting the pain to return. The next day, I went back to my crazy routine of running around managing the kids, and there was no pain at all! It was amazing. I haven't managed to walk like that in a year! I felt like the lame being able to walk again. It was nothing short of a miracle to me. I am indeed very thankful to David for his wonderful skill, and his passion in helping people regain their physical health. And thank goodness I had taken #3 to the dentist that day and spoken about it. If not, I would have gone ahead with the laparoscopy. Prayer answered? #3 said, "For sure" :)

I share yr joy when you could finally walk. I have my fair share of immobility due to Reactive Arthritis (a rare autoimmune disease which will come & go). To be able to walk has then became something I shouldnt take for granted.